


Falling

by bluestrawberryiii



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Day 4, Fluff, Ignoct Week 2018, Injury, M/M, but theres still hawaii time!!!, its technically past the deadline for me, lil bit of angst, not too much tho like im just here to have a good time man, theres a bit of blood but i tried not to make it too graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 17:51:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13641390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluestrawberryiii/pseuds/bluestrawberryiii
Summary: Ignis gets injured and the boys rush him back to town.





	Falling

**Author's Note:**

> (this fic was previously named “the long fall”. sorry for any confusion the change might’ve caused!! i just.. really hated the title)

“Are there any imps left?”

From the darkness off to the right, Prompto called out. “None over here!”

“None here,” came Ignis’ voice from the left.

“Awesome.” Noctis put away his sword, squinting at the dark woods around him, trying to catch sight of his friends’ flashlights. Battles had been a bit rough ever since Gladio went off to do… whatever he was doing. But they needed gas money, and the local tipster was paying well to get rid of these imps.

He turned, and his flashlight beam hit Prompto. “You okay?”

Prompto gave him a thumbs up. “All good, buddy!”

It took a bit more spinning to catch sight of Ignis. He was farther away, leaning on a tree. Noctis couldn’t quite read the look on his face. “Ignis, you alright?”

A pause. “I should be fine. Shall we get going?” He pushed himself off the tree, took one step, and crumpled to the ground.

Noctis was by his side in seconds. “What happened?”

Ignis shook his head. “It’s probably just a scratch.”

Prompto came up behind them, though he kept his distance. They’d had situations like this before, and Gladio had made it clear that, in a potential emergency, crowding together only made things worse. “That didn’t look like a ‘just a scratch’ kinda fall,” he called. Even from ten feet away, Noctis could tell he was nervous. “That was more of an ‘I’m dying’ fall.”

Ignis shot him a scathing look. “Thank you, Prompto, but I’m not dying. I just got nicked, is all. Noct, if you would be so kind as to help me up.”

He nodded and slung Ignis’ arm over his shoulder. Then he wrapped a steadying arm around him and Ignis stiffened. “Iggy?” Noctis looked over. Ignis’ face had gone ashen. “Is there something wron…” He frowned, then pulled his hand away from Ignis’ side. It was wet. “Prompto, could you shine some light on this?” He gestured his hand awkwardly, trying not to jostle Ignis too much.

Prompto jogged over. He gasped. “Noct…?”

“What?” Noctis looked over. With the added light from Prompto, it was clear as day: his hand was covered in glistening blood. A quick look at Ignis’ side showed him where it had come from. Blood seeped from three gashes in his shirt, all of them undoubtedly deep.

Ignis strained to get a look. “What are you two gawking at?”

“Well.” Prompto was pale, and looked like he was well on his way to turning green. “It’s a bit more than a scratch.”

“It’s bad. We need to get you back to town. Now.” Noct pulled off his jacket and tied it around the wound, then adjusted his grip. “I’m gonna carry you, okay?”

“My hero.” Ignis rolled his eyes. “You know you can’t.”

Noct bristled. “Can too!”

“Were I not injured, I would dare you.” He sighed. “As is, I would request that you refrain from trying.”

“Fine. Prompto, could you…” Noctis trailed off, seeing the stricken look on Prompto’s face. Sighing, he switched himself over to Ignis’ bloody side. The blood was already soaking through his makeshift bandage, which either meant jackets made for shitty bandages or Ignis was in a bad way. Probably both.

“Prompto, could you get his other side?”

He rushed to slip under the other arm.

“It’s okay to move him, right? Didn’t Gladio say something once about…?”

“Oh shit, you’re right. I didn’t even think of that -”

“Just start walking,” Ignis ground out. Once they started moving, he continued. “It’s cold, and it’s dark, and sometimes rules should be broken.”

Prompto looked over at Noctis. “Did he just say rules should be broken?” He turned to face Ignis. “Are you sure you’re not dying?”

“Quite.”

The quarter-mile trek back to the car was painfully long, longer than it had any right to be. By the time they got to the Regalia, Noct’s shirt was soaked through with blood.

“So, Specs,” he said. “You’re still driving us, right?”

“Ha ha, Noct. Very funny.” Ignis lowered himself carefully down into the passenger seat, then looked regretfully at the smear of blood he’d left behind. “Oh dear… His Majesty’s car…”

Noct slid into the driver’s seat and shot him a look. “Dude. It’s fine. We can get it cleaned. Plus.” He turned the key and the Regalia’s engine rumbled to life. “Dad’s friends did worse.”

“Did they now?” The question was murmured, and a quick look over at the passenger’s seat showed that Ignis had all but absorbed himself into the seat. His lips were slightly parted, his breathing shallow. That didn’t bode well.

Noctis pulled the car onto the road, going as fast as he dared; the quicker they got back to the motel the better, but it wouldn’t do Ignis any good to get jostled and bumped the whole way there. So he crawled ahead at an infuriatingly slow pace and tried desperately to keep Ignis’ attention. “Yeah. He told me about it once. Apparently Cor was hitting on some girl, right? And she socked him right in the nose. They were on the road for like a mile with no problems, but then Cor sneezed.” He glanced over at Ignis to make sure his eyes were still open. They were. Barely. “And when he sneezed, it must’ve knocked something loose, because suddenly his nose was pouring blood. Shit got everywhere.” Noct gestured to the backseat. “It happened right there, where Prompto’s sitting.”

“Augh! Dude!” Prompto squirmed in his seat, shifting away from the imaginary blood. “Gross! Why’d you have to say that!?”

The overdramatic response pulled a soft chuckle out of Ignis, which was exactly what Noctis had been hoping for. “Sorry, man,” he called back to Prompto. “If it makes it better, the seats have been replaced since then.”

“Whatever. When he gets back, Gladio has to switch with me.”

“I’ll let you tell him that.”

“He won’t listen to me! You know he won’t!”

The rest of the ride was spent bickering over silly things in an attempt to keep Ignis conscious. Every now and then, Prompto would try to pull him into a fight, or Noctis would try asking his opinion on something, all with little success. They would get one-word responses if they were lucky, and a concerningly weak exhale if they weren’t.

By the time they got back to the motel, Ignis was practically sleepwalking. His eyes fell shut and couldn’t be coaxed open for the world. His breath was barely a whisper and he walked like his legs had gone numb. Turning on the room lights helped a bit, but it was still a struggle getting him onto the bed and removing his jacket and shirt.

While Noctis carefully peeled away the scraps of fabric that had lodged themselves in the wound, Prompto hovered nearby, awkwardly shifting from foot to foot, leaning over to catch a glimpse at what was happening, then flinching away as soon as another piece of bloody fabric was slowly peeled out of the gashes.

Finally, Noct decided to put him out of his misery. “Prompto, could you help me out?” he asked.

There was an audible gulp, and a pause while Prompto steeled himself. “Yeah, sure. What do you need?”

“Can you hand me the first aid kit?”

Prompto handed it to him, trying and failing to still the shaking in his hand. “Need anything else? Any help with… ah…” He licked his lips and glanced away. “...stitching…?”

“Yeah, now that you mention it.” Noctis moved away from the bedside so Prompto had a clear view. “Could you get in there and hold his side together while I sew his guts back in? It’s a bit messy, but...”

Prompto turned white as a sheet. “S… sure. I can... do that.” Noct almost felt bad.

“Dude, I was kidding. You really wanna help?”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course.”

“Go to the diner.”

Prompto squinted. “What?”

“Go to the diner. Collect the bounty on those imps. Eat some dinner. Bring back some for us. By the time you get back, I’ll be done. With any luck, Specs’ll be hungry.” He gave Prompto a pleading look. “You’d be doing me a huge favor, man.”

Relief washed over Prompto’s face. “Of course. I’ll make sure the food’s still nice and hot when you’re done!” He was out the door almost before he was done talking.

Ignis’ voice came from the bed. “That was mean.”

Noctis was back by his side in an instant. “You’re awake?”

He snorted. Or, it was probably a snort. It came out more like a slightly haughty inhale. “Barely.”

He started unpacking the first aid kit. “How you feeling?”

“Peachy,” he said, then hissed as Noctis poured alcohol over the cuts.

“Glad you’re feeling fine. You probably won’t need any of these, then, right?” He held up a bottle of painkillers and shook them.

Ignis gave him a hard look and held out his hand. Noct gave him two pills. Ignis kept his hand out.

He shook out two more. “That bad, huh?”

Ignis tossed back the pills, chasing them with a glass of stale water Prompto had left out the night before. He grimaced. “Truth be told, Noct, it’s because I doubt your hands are as delicate as Gladio’s.”

He shrugged. “That’s probably fair.”

“Remember to use a clean needle.”

Noct rolled his eyes. “Wow. You worry me to death in the car, but now you’re awake enough to badger me over proper medical procedure?” He pulled on a pair of gloves, then dramatically brandished a clean needle from the kit.

“Pouring alcohol over an open wound will tend to rouse one a little.”

Noctis swabbed the crusted blood away from Ignis’ side. Sadly, when it was all cleaned away, the gashes were still just as big as they had seemed. His stomach turned at the sight. “I’m gonna start sewing, okay?”

Ignis nodded. “Keep talking, though.”

“Alright." Noctis cast around his memory for something to talk about. "Do you remember -” He began to sew. “- when we were little. And we climbed that tree?”

“The one His Majesty told you not to climb because it was too tall?”

“Yeah.”

“I remember yelling for you to come down for minutes before I finally came up after you. I was in quite a state.” He frowned. “For someone meant to keep you safe, you rarely let me do my job.”

“Sorry ‘bout that.” He tied off the first gash. “It was a nice view, though.”

“Before you fell.”

“Before I fell,” Noctis agreed. “I totally snapped my arm. Hurt like hell.”

“You’re lucky you didn’t break your neck.”

“I might as well have, the way you acted. You looked like you’d seen the Reaper, man.” He tied off the second one.

“I took my job seriously, I’ll have you know!” Ignis started to make a wide gesture, then thought better of it. “When you got hurt on my watch, I thought I was done for.”

“Done for?” Noctis chuckled. “What, did you think Dad would execute you just for me being a dumbass?”

Ignis shook his head. “That, or he would relieve me of my duties. Or worse, scold me. Any one would likely have been just as bad as the other.” For a moment, he got a far-off look in his eye. “It was the oddest thing… I think you asked me to kiss it better.”

Noct tied off the final stitch. His lips quirked up into a smirk. “Iggy.” He pulled out the most dewey-eyed look. “Are you trying to ask me to kiss your tummy better?”

Ignis made a disgusted face. “Absolutely not. That would be unsanitary for both of us.”

Noctis let out an affected, theatrical sigh. “Fine. I guess this will have to do.” He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Ignis’ forehead, lingering just long enough to catch the scent of his shampoo. Strawberries. Then he pulled away.

It took a few moments for Ignis to blink away his shock. “Sap,” he finally said.

Noctis bowed. “I’m nothing if not a romantic. Now excuse me while I wash all this blood and gore off myself.”

* * *

  
After three unread texts and a call that went to voicemail, Prompto decided he should head back to the room to make sure everything was okay. Quietly, carefully, he eased the door open, careful not to crinkle the takeout bag. He half-expected blood to be sprayed around the room, or Ignis to be dead, or both. But when he walked into the room, it was reassuringly peaceful. The lights were dimmed. In the bathroom, Noct’s bloodstained jacket and shirt hung over the shower right next to Ignis’ torn-up clothes. Bloody gloves had been tossed haphazardly into the sink.

Ignis was sleeping on the bed where Prompto had left him. Noct was asleep too, halfway in a chair and halfway flopped onto the side of Ignis’ bed. It looked like they’d fallen asleep holding hands. Prompto gently prodded Noctis’ leg with his boot. When he didn’t stir, Prompto sighed.

“Cold burgers and fries for you two, then.”

**Author's Note:**

> *writes ignoct*  
> hi actually this is still the prompto show though w h o o p s


End file.
